U6   Information and the Media

信息与传媒

What Is Fluency with Information Technology?

       Reading Comprehension

       (包括“答案与题解”)

       Notes

       课文参考译文

       练习

         ●Cloze

●Reading Passages(包括“疑难长句翻译与注解”)

         ●Translation

●    Writing(包括“审题指导”)

What Is Fluency with Information Technology?

Fluency with information technology (shortened as FITness) goes beyond traditional notions of computer literacy. Literacy about information technology might call for a minimal level of familiarity with technological tools like word processors, e-mail, and Web browsers. By contrast, FITness requires that persons understand information technology broadly enough to be able to apply it productively at work and in their everyday lives, to recognize when information technology would assist or impede the achievement of a goal, and to continually adapt to the changes in and advancement of information technology. FITness therefore requires a deeper, more essential understanding and mastery of information technology for information processing, communication, and problem solving than does computer literacy as traditionally defined. Note also that FITness builds on many other fundamental competencies, such as logical reasoning and knowledge of society.

Information technology is a medium that permits the expression of a vast array of information, ideas, concepts, and messages, and FITness is about effectively exploiting that expressive power. FITness enables a person to accomplish a variety of different tasks using information technology and to develop different ways of accomplishing a given task.

FITness comes in degrees and gradations and is tied to different purposes. FITness is thus not an “end state”, but rather develops over a lifetime in particular domains of interest involving particular applications. Aspects of FITness can be developed by using spreadsheets for personal or professional budgeting, desktop publishing tools to create or edit documents or Web pages, search engines and database management tools for locating information on the Web or in large databases, and design tools to create visualizations in various scientific and engineering disciplines.

The wide variety of contexts in which FITness is relevant is matched by the rapid pace at which information technology evolves. Most professionals today require constant upgrading of technological skills as new tools become useful in their work; they learn new word processing programs, new computer-assisted design environments, or new techniques for searching the World Wide Web. Different applications of information technology emerge rather frequently, both in areas with long traditions of using information and information technology and in areas that are not usually seen as being technology-intensive. Perhaps the major challenge for individuals embarking on the goal of lifelong FITness involves deciding when to learn a new tool, when to change to a new technology, when to devote energy to increasing technological competency, and when to allocate time to other professional activities.

The above comments suggest that FITness is personal, graduated, and dynamic. FITness is personal in the sense that individuals evaluate, distinguish, learn, and use new information technology as appropriate to their own sustained personal and professional activities. What is appropriate for an individual depends on the particular applications, activities, and opportunities for FITness that are associated with the individual’s area of interest or specialization, and what is reasonable for a FIT lawyer or a historian to know and be able to do may well differ from what is required for a FIT scientist or engineer. FITness is graduated in the sense that it is characterized by different levels of sophistication, and it is dynamic in that it requires lifelong learning as information technology evolves.

1. The primary difference between FITness and traditional notions of computer literary lies in             .

 ［A］ the kind of technological tools to be mastered

 ［B］ the range of knowledge about software

 ［C］ the competency to effectively exploit the information technology

 ［D］ the ability to sort out new information from old information

2. Information technology can best be defined as              .

 ［A］ a maximal level of familiarity with technological tools

 ［B］ effective application of information at work or in life

 ［C］ a different way of using information to accomplish a task

 ［D］ a medium by which diversified information is expressed

3. A person should constantly update his computer skills owing to              .

 ［A］ the increasing flow of new information

 ［B］ the rapid renewal of information technology

 ［C］ the frequent transformation of modern life

 ［D］ the major challenges put to him at workplace

4. The main idea of Paragraph 4 is that              .

 ［A］ different working contexts demand different technological skills

 ［B］ FITness is dynamic and requires lifelong learning

 ［C］ FITness helps to achieve the goal of life

 ［D］ Enough energy should be spent to increase technological competency

5. FITness is personal in the sense that              .

 ［A］ it is up to an individual to decide what skill to develop first

 ［B］ everyone should master technological skills in a step-by-step manner

 ［C］ different technological skills are of different significance for individuals

 ［D］ information technology means different things to different individuals

答案与题解

1.［C］   意为：有效利用信息技术的能力。

参阅第一段第三、四句，请特别注意其中的 productively；第二段第一句中，请特别注意其中的 effectively exploiting。

2.［D］   意为：传送各种信息的媒介。

参阅第二段第一句。

3.［B］   意为：信息技术的快速更新。

参阅第四段，尤其是其中的第一、二句，注意其中的 information technology 和 new tools。

4.［B］

本段的主题在本段第二句和最后一句表达得最清楚。

5.［C］

参阅最后一段第二、三句。这里强调了每个人根据自己的需要掌握相应的技能的重要性。

Notes

1. 第一段第三句是一个简单主从复合句。句架是By contrast, FITness requires that persons...broadly enough to be able to..., to recognize when..., and to...adapt to...。句中that引导名词从句作requires的宾语 ；在宾语从句中，when引导时间状语从句，修饰recognize。

2. 第四段第一句是一个简单主从复合句，句架是The...variety of contexts in which FITness is relevant is matched by...pace at which...。这个句子的主句是The wide variety of contexts is matched by the rapid pace...。in which引导定语从句，修饰contexts；at which引导定语从句，修饰pace。

3. 第五段第三句是一个并列主从复合句，前后两个分句由and连接。句架是What...depends on...applications, activities, and opportunities for FITness that..., and what...may well differ from what...。在前面的分句中，What引导名词从句，在句子中作主语；关系代词that引导定语从句，修饰applications, activities, and opportunities for FITness。在后面的分句中，第一个what引导名词从句，在句中作主语，第二个what引导名词从句，作from的宾语。

4. 第五段最后一句是一个并列主从复合句，前后两个分句由and连接。句架是FITness is graduated in the sense that..., and it is dynamic in that it requires...。在前面的分句中that引导名词从句，作sense的同位语，graduated在句中作“分等级”讲；在后面的分句中，that引导名词从句，作介词in的宾语，在宾语从句中as引导时间状语从句。

课文参考译文

什么是信息技术能力熟练?

信息技术能力熟练超出了对电脑一般了解的传统概念。对信息技术的一般了解可能要求最低限度地熟悉像文字处理软件、电子邮件和网上浏览器这样的技术工具。相比之下，信息技术能力熟练则要求人们对信息技术有足够广泛的了解，以便能在工作中和日常生活中富有成效地加以应用，认识到信息技术在何时能帮助或阻碍实现一个目标，并继续适应信息技术的变化和发展。因此，信息技术能力熟练要求比传统定义上的一般了解电脑更深入地、更从本质上了解和掌握处理信息、沟通和解决问题的信息技术。也请注意信息技术能力熟练是建立在许多其他基本能力的基础之上的，如逻辑推理和社会知识。

信息技术是可以表达大量信息、想法、概念和短信等的一种手段，信息技术能力熟练就是有效地利用那种表达能力。信息技术能力熟练能使一个人利用信息技术完成多种不同的任务，并开发完成特定任务的不同方法。

信息技术能力熟练是分程度和等级的，与不同目的相关联。因此，信息技术能力熟练不是一种“最终状态”，而是要在一生当中在涉及特殊应用的特殊领域发展的。信息技术能力熟练可以通过利用编制个人或专业预算的电子表格，利用创建或编辑文件或网页的桌面出版工具，利用在网上或在大型数据库中查询信息的搜索引擎和数据库管理工具，以及利用在各个科学和工程学科设计视图的工具中得以培养。

与信息技术能力熟练有关的广泛背景情况是与信息技术迅速演变相一致的。大部分专业人员今

天都要求技术技能随着新工具在他们的工作中变得有用而不断升级；他们学习新的文字处理程序，新的计算机辅助设计环境，或搜索万维网的新技术。信息技术的不同应用在两个领域出现都颇为频繁，一个是利用信息和信息技术的长期传统，另一个是不经常被认为是技术密集的领域。对于一生追求信息技术能力熟练目标的个人来说，主要的挑战是决定何时学一种新工具，何时换一种新技术，何时把精力专门用于增强技术能力以及何时把时间用于其他专业活动。

以上评述表明，信息技术能力熟练是个人的、分等级的和不断变化的。信息技术能力熟练是属于个人的，其含义在于，个人评估、辨认、学习和使用新信息技术是因为这些新的信息技术适合于他们自己持久的个人和专业活动。什么东西适合于个人则取决于特定的应用情况、特定的活动和达到信息技术能力熟练的特定机会，而这些是与个人的兴趣领域或专业领域相联系的。至于一个信息技术能力熟练的律师或史学家知道什么或能做什么是合理的，这与对信息技术能力熟练的科学家或工程师提出的要求可能大不相同。信息技术能力熟练是分等级的，其含义在于复杂程度不同；信息技术能力熟练又是不断变化的，其含义在于要求人随着信息技术的演变而终生学习。